The Woman at the Docks - Jessica Gadziala Page 0,44

can pick you up a few things tomorrow. I might even be able to get the concierge to run a few errands."

"There's no rush," I assured him, not admitting it aloud, but knowing that I had no problem with the idea of walking around wearing one of his shirts. Especially if no one else was around.

"I'll let you settle in," he said, moving into the hall, reaching to close the door.

"Luca," I called, waiting for him to push the door open a few inches. "Thank you," I told him, voice a little thick with emotion.

"Don't thank me for being a decent human being," he told me, shaking his head before closing the door and moving away.

I didn't have much settling in to do seeing as I didn't have any possessions.

But I went into the bathroom, finding a robe on the back of the door, and decided to take a shower, washing away all the craziness of the past several days, brushing my teeth, combing my hair, then making my way back out into the main area of the apartment. There I found Luca standing in the kitchen, his jacket throwing over a chair butted up against the island, a couple of the buttons undone, his sleeves rolled up.

"Are you cooking?" I asked, brows pinching.

Luca's head lifted, gaze moving over me, eyes going molten, creating a similar reaction in my core.

"No," he said, clearing his throat awkwardly, if a man like him could be awkward. "I am reheating. My Aunt Adrian—Lucky's mom—is always dropping off frozen meals with instructions on how to reheat them. I figured you might be hungry. And I haven't eaten either. I was out looking for you."

"I'm sorry," I said, shaking my head.

"Don't be sorry for trying to survive," he countered.

"What are we having?"

"Lasagna," he told me, peeling off a couple of layers of plastic wrap. "But I need to get this garlic bread out first," he said, revealing a loaf wrapped in aluminum foil.

"It must be nice to have such a big family," I told him, moving closer, sitting down on the chair on the other side of the island from him.

"It is," he agreed. "Do you miss your family? In Venezuela," he clarified.

"Yes. I mean... I didn't grow up with them. I didn't meet them until I was an adult, so the dynamic was different, I think. But, yes. It was nice to always have someone around, someone who cared about you."

"You've been alone a lot."

It wasn't a question, but I answered anyway. "Yes. But that was my choice."

"You don't have friends? A man?"

"I have colleagues and neighbors. It is harder than they tell you to make friends as an adult. I mean, what are you supposed to do, walk up to someone and ask if they want to go get manicures together? You'd get pepper sprayed."

"A man?" he asked again.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. Why is anyone single? I guess because we don't find the right person."

"What is this right person like?" he asked, unwrapping the lasagna, tenting the top, then turning to grab a cup of water, pouring it in the sides of the lasagna, then pausing to look up at me when I still hadn't answered.

"I, ah, I don't know."

"How can you get something if you can't, first, define it?"

"I don't know. Someone smart and driven. Someone loyal and kind. My father used to beat the hell out of my mother, so I don't want someone who gets too angry."

"Does this hypothetical person want children?"

"Yes. I think I'd like a couple. Do you?"

"Yes. Several."

"So you want someone in your life too."

"Of course. What?" he asked, head tipping to the side.

"Nothing. It's just... I don't know. I can't say I've known a lot of men who are so sure that they want someone serious in their future."

"I want a family. I think when you are raised with your family values as a large part of your personality, you don't have all that wild oat sowing shit going on."

"What would that woman be like?"

"Someone not intimidated by my lifestyle. Someone who could integrate in with my family. Maybe someone who knows how to cook," he added with a boyish smile as he lifted up the lasagna, turning to slip it into the oven.

"That's not asking for too much."

"I think the first part of that list will be the hardest to find."

Someone who wasn't intimidated by his lifestyle.

Just a quick internet search told me who the Grassi family was, so I imagined women from the area